Understanding the Colts' Offensive Machine: It's all about the Ace Formation

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I read a post the other day saying that the Colts offense needed to be changed up. It was so predictable, so obvious. Au contraire my friends, au contraire.

Before we get into what the Colts do—and why they have been one of the most prolific offenses over the past decade—let’s get some rules, and verbiage out of the way.

Rules, Verbiage, and Other Things to Put You to Sleep

The so-called “7-4” rule

1. The real rule is that you must have at least seven men on the line of scrimmage. This leaves you with four in the backfield (anywhere behind the offensive lineman). Hence, the “7-4” rule.

2. Notice I didn’t say you had to have four in the backfield. The reason is the bare minimum you can have at the offensive line of scrimmage is seven. You can add additional players to the line, but they become ineligible receivers.

3. It’s rare to see teams put more than seven on the line, because you are depleting the number of guys who can block.

4. All pro formations are based on this rule.

5. If you have seven on the line and want to add a receiver to the formation, he must be off the line of scrimmage: the receiver is usually about a yard or less away from the line. If he screws up and lines up on the line of scrimmage, it’s an illegal formation, and a penalty.

6. There is no such rule for the defense: If they want to, they can line one guy up on the defensive line of scrimmage.

Names of the Receivers and General Alignments

1. The outside receiver, to the left of the QB, is the X receiver, or split-end. Typically he is lined up on the line of scrimmage.

2. The outside receiver, lined up to the right of the QB, is the Z receiver, or Flanker. He is usually lined up about a yard off the line of scrimmage. Given that most QBs are right-handed, the flanker is often the first place the quarterback looks. Again, this is a generality.

3. In a three-receiver set, the third receiver is called the Y receiver, or the slot receiver. Remember, he can be on the line of scrimmage, as long as it doesn’t violate the seven-man rule.

4. In a four-receiver set, you will see two on the line and two off of the line. Who is lined up on the line and who is off, depends on the play.

5. In a five-receiver set, you will see two on the line and three off the line.

Remember, this is just a real general description. There are lots of different formations, such as trips bunch, for example. In this formation, the split end could be on the line, and on the other side of the formation, the slot might be on the line, with the other two receivers forming a triangle behind him.

An Important Term

Flexing the tight end: When a tight end is flexed, he basically becomes a receiver instead of a blocker.

The Colts like to do this a lot out of the ace formation. Basically, what they do is come out with two tight ends on the line, two receivers off the line, and a single back in the backfield.

Typically, Dallas Clark is the tight end that is “flexed” or, in other words, becomes the receiving tight end.

Routes

This is not an all-inclusive list of routes that receivers for the Colts run. This list just includes the ones that you will most often by the Colts.

Curl route: The receiver runs straight up the field, about six to eight yards, and then comes back towards the QB. The turn he makes towards the QB is like a curl. This route is good against both zone and man coverages.

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